Press deflating mechanism



Gate 6, H93, J. F. SMITH 2,056,214

PRESS DEFLATING MECHANISM Filed Jan. 31, 1935 INVENT OR Patented Oct. 6, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE Compo Shoe- Machinery Corporation,

New

York, N, Y., a corporation of Delaware- Application January 31, 1935, Serial No. 4,272

Claims.

This invention: relates to. deflating mechanisms for use on multi-press machines having air operatedpresses, A particular and preferred application of the, invention is to shoe press machines.

A general-object of the invention isto: provide a pressing. machine having a movable carrier bearing a plurality of inflatable presses whereinimproved means areprovided for deflating each of. said pressesat a determined part of the carriertraverse;

Moreqspeciflcially, objects of the invention are tic/provide anintermittently movable shoe press carrier with a positively acting deflating mechanism whichis controlled so as to operate indesired-time-relationwith the periodsofmovement and non-movement of the carrier.

A further object of the invention is to provide ashoe press carrier which is adapted to be driven intermittently, which, has an air controlled. deflating mechanism whichis so interconnected withthecontrol means for the carrier driving mechanism. .asto effect. deflation of presses only during periods of non-movement of the carrier.

Other obiectsofthe invention will in part be obvious and will, in part appear hereinafter.

The invention. accordingly comprises .thefeaturesofconstruction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts, Whichwill beexemplifledin the construction hereinafter set forth andthescope ofthe application of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understandingof the nature and objectsof the, invention reference should be had to. the .following detailed description taken in connection with the. accompanying drawing, in which:

I Fig, .1 a. fragmentary plan view of a shoe presscarrier or conveyor equipped with deflating. mechanism embodying principles. of themesent invention;

.Fig. 2..is a. ,iragmentary front elevation of the righthand portion of the carrier shown inFigl, parts thereof beingbroken away better to. show the. structure; and

Rig. 3. is .a. transverse, vertical sectional .view takensubstantially alongline 3-93 of Fig. 2.

While benefits of the present invention may be obtained generally witha y form of multipress carrier having inflatable and ldeflatable presses, it .is particularly .useful in connection witha shoe press conveyor of .the ,kind shown, for example, inithe United States patent to Weiss No. ,1,9.4;5f, 762.. For convenience of description,

the present invention is shown applied to and explained in conjunction with a shoe press machine of the kind shown-in that patent.

With such conveyors a plurality of inflatable shoe presses are moved about an endless carrier path past a loading station located at one determined portion of such path. Here the operator inserts in the press a shoe and sole having cement therebetween, and inflates the press so as to apply pressure to the sole and stick the shoe parts together. After inflation the press proceeds about the carrier traverse in order to allow the cement to set while succeeding presses are being loaded. While being loaded, the press is held. stationary at the loading station, so that the-movement of the carrier is intermittent. In order to save the operator the time and effort required, to deflate a press arriving at the loading station, it desirable to provide some means along the carrier traverse for automatically deflating the press prior to its arrival at the loading station.

' The present invention provides. means for positively eflecting opening the shoe press valves to effect deflation of each: press prior to its arrival at the loading, station, and" control means is provided whereby this deflating mechanism effectively operates'on a press located in advance of the loadingstation during the period of nonmoyement in which-the press at the loading station is being handled. Other mechanisms suitable for performing such functions are described and claimed in my copen-ding application Serial No. 4,211, filed; January 3-1, 1935.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, there is shown a carrier in the form of a flexibly elongate conveyor belt [0 which is adapted to pass around and be driven by rotatable drums (not shown), one of which is located at each end of .the conveyor frame generally designated H. These drums, or one of them, are adapted tobe directly driven by an electric motor, not shown, soas to start movement when the motor current is turned on and to come to a drift stop when the current is cut off.

The belt lll-hasa plurality of presses l2 mounted thereon at spaced intervals for movement there- Each press has an inflatable pad l3, which is adapted to be both inflated and deflated through. an air valve l4, which has an outwardly projecting spring biased plunger l5. This plunger operates in a well known manner to control; theopening andclosing-of' the valve seat, the latter being closed when the plunger I5 is inits outermost and-normal position. One such valve is shown, for example, in United States Patent No. 2,009,575, granted to William C. Card, Jr., on July 30, 1935. The press is further equipped with a suitable shoe supporting means 15, against which the inflatable pad is adapted to press a sole and upper assembly.

An air supply chuck I1 is located along the conveyor traverse in the loading station zone. It is preferably mounted for limited movement along the carrier traverse by means of a slid able carriage l8 mounted in brackets l9 affixed to the frame. This carriage is given a normal bias to the left (Fig. 1) by means of a spring 20, the progressive movement of the press on the upper traverse of the conveyor being to the right as viewed in that figure. Each press carries a projecting lug 2!, which is adapted to abut an arm 22 which is pivotally attached to the sliding carriage 18. As a moving press abuts and picks up this arm it carries the air chuck H with it in registry with its valve I 4. Such movement of the chuck and its associated carriage permits movement of a stopping switch 23 whichcuts off the driving motor and brings the press to a drift stop. This switch 23 is given a spring bias in a clockwise direction (Fig. l) and is permitted to follow this bias when the carriage I9 reaches the approximate position shown in Fig. 1. In this manner a press moving along the conveyor traverse toward the loading station is brought to a drift stop at such station with its valve in registered alinement with the air supply chuck ll. This chuck is movable toward the valve l4, being slidable transversely ofthe carriage l8. Such movement is effected by means of a lever 24 which has one end pivoted to chuck I 8 and is fulcrumed intermediate its ends on a bracket aflixed to the carrier frame. Its other end is attached to a link 25 for movement thereby and this link is pivoted through the agency of a bell crank lever 26 to a treadle operated link 21 so that depression of the treadle will effect movement of the air chuck toward and into communicative contact with the press valve I4. The bell crank lever 26 is freely rotatable about a horizontal shaft 28 which is fixedly mounted on the carrier frame by means of suitable brackets. This drift stop and inflation mechanism is substantially like that described in the above mentioned Weiss patent 1,945,762 and does not form a part of the present invention except in so far as it is used in combination therewith.

The means for effecting deflation of each press before it is thus brought to a drift stop at the loading station comprises, in accordance with the present invention, a deflating plunger in-' cluding a deflating bar 29 whichis fixedly attached to one end of the plunger proper 30. The bar 29 is preferablyof such length as to span the valves of two adjacent presses as they are brought to a stop opposite it. Such bar may be located at any suitable portion of the conveyor traverse in advance of the loading station, being shown in Fig. 1 as being opposed to the second and third presses in advance of the one opposite the air' inflation chuck.

The plunger 30 carries at its inner end an air piston 3| which operates in an air cylinder 32. An air inlet port 33 is located in this cylinder on the side of the piston toward the carrier so that admission of air to the cylinder will retract the plunger bar 29 from the path of the valve plungers I5. A spring 34 gives the deflating plunger a normal bias toward the valve plungers, and brings such bar into deflating relation with an opposed valve except when it is held retracted through operation of the piston 3|.

This piston is adapted to be retracted in timed relation with the periods of movement and nonmovement of the presses. To this end air is admitted into the cylinder through a valve 35 which communicates with port 33 through an air conduit 36. The valve 35 is adapted to be opened at such time as the driving motor for moving the conveyor is started. A switch 31 controls the starting of this motor. This switch is given a normal spring bias in a clockwise direction (Fig. 3) and is adapted to be turned against its bias by a rotatable cam 33 forming one arm of a bell crank lever.

- The other arm 39 of this lever is connected to a treadle link 40 which is adapted to be depressed by a treadle 4| so as toswing the switch 31 to motor starting position. An arm 52 is also united to, for movement with, bell crank arms 38 and 39 and it extends inwardly into abutting contact with 'an'operating lever 43 for the deflating air cylinder valve 35. The connected arms'38, 39, and 42 are freely rotatable on shaft 28, so that depression of treadle 4| will simultaneously effect starting of the motor and opening of the valve 35, without affecting the press inflating mechanism at 26, etc.

By means of such structure, air is admitted to cylinder 32 at the same time that the presses begin their movement after any given loading operation, and the deflating plunger 2930 is quickly retracted from its deflating engagement with the press valves M. In order again to bring the deflating plunger into contact with successively opposed valves during the subsequent period of non-movement of the press, a bleeder orifice 44 is provided in cylinder 32 and this orifice is made of such size as to permit spring 34 again to bring the deflating-plunger into the path of the press valves at or shortly after the presses again come to rest through operation of drift stop switch 23, which, as explained, operates to cut oflf the motor which was started by switch 31.

In usingthe present equipment, an operator situated at the loading station loads a lasted upper and a registered outer sole having cement therebetween into a press which has come to a drift stop opposite air chuck I1. He then inflates thepress by depressing treadle lever 21 and bringing the chuck into communication with the press valve l4. After the press is inflated he steps on the starting treadle 4|, starting the conveyor driving motor and admitting air into deflating plunger cylinder 32. This plunger is thus retracted while the presses are moving, and this press movement continues until the lug 2| on the next press'of the carrier picks up the arm 22 and slides the chuck carriage l8 so as to operate the stop switch 23, again bringing the presses to a stop.. At aboutthis time the bleeder orifice M in the deflating cylinder will have vented the air therein, allowing the bar 29 to contact and depress the opposed valve plungers l5. It will be noted that this bar 29 is of such extent, and is so located with reference to the loading station, that it opposes two adjacent press valves. Thus, each press is subjected to two deflating periods, so that it undergoes. a longer deflating period than that used for inflation. This assures complete deflation of each press as it reaches the operator at the loading station, and enables him readily to remove a cemented shoe therefrom in order to reinsert a new sole and upper assembly. If desired, however, the plunger may be designed so as to contact only one press at a time, or any desired plurality of presses as well as the two illustrated may be contacted.

It will be seen that there has been provided an apparatus which is well suited to fulfil its intended functions. Since certain changes may be made in the above construction and difierent embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A machine of the class described, comprising a carrier, a plurality of inflatable presses mounted on said carrier for intermittent movement along its traverse, an air control valve on each press, means for inflating said presses, a deflating plunger movable into and out of deflating relation with said valves, an air operated piston for moving said plunger, and means for automatically applying air to said piston to move said plunger out of deflating position in timed relation With said carrier movement.

2. A machine of the class described, comprising a carrier, a plurality of inflatable presses mounted on said carrier, an air control valve on each press, means for inflating said presses, a deflating plunger movable into and out of deflating relation with said valves, an air operated piston for moving said plunger, means for intermittently driving said carrier, and common control means for actuating said carrier driving means and said piston.

3. A machine of the class described, comprising a carrier, a plurality of inflatable presses mounted on said carrier, an air control valve on each press, a movable deflating plunger spring biased into deflating relation with said valves, an air cylinder and piston operable to retract said plunger, and means for admitting air into said cylinder to retract said plunger from deflating position when said carrier is moved.

4. A machine of the character described, comprising a carrier, a plurality of inflatable presses mounted on said carrier, an air control valve on each press, a deflating plunger movable into and out of deflating relation with said valves, an air cylinder and piston operable to retract said plunger, means for starting movement of said carrier, and means for admitting air into said cylinder to move said plunger out of deflating relation when said carrier starting means is actuated.

5. A machine of the character described, comprising a carrier, a plurality of inflatable presses mounted on said carrier, an air control valve on each press, means for inflating said presses, said carrier being intermittently movable successively to present presses at said inflating means, a deflating plunger biased into deflating relation with an opposed valve, an air cylinder and piston operable to retract said plunger, means for admitting air into said cylinder approximately at the inception of movement of said carrier, and a bleeder valve for discharging the air from said cylinder at a rate permitting said plunger to assume deflating relation with a succeeding valve approximately at the end of such carrier movement.

JOHN FREDERICK SMITH. 

